The present invention relates to radio frequency-based identification and, more specifically, to vehicle-integrated automatic identification using radio frequency transmission.
Electronic toll collection systems seek to reduce the wait time for vehicles travelling on toll roads by providing access to dedicated travel lanes for subscribers who pay a use fee for this access. A toll collection service provider supplies subscribers with transponder units that utilize radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to communicate with RFID reader devices installed at dedicated travel lanes.
A conventional transponder unit is approximately the size of a deck of cards and is typically mailed to a user upon subscribing to an electronic toll collection service. Once received, the subscriber is provided with instructions to secure the transponder unit to an upper portion of a driver-side front windshield using adhesive tape and fastening material, such as Velcro™. Due to its size and relative placement on the vehicle's front windshield, the transponder unit is not only obstructive to the vehicle operator's view, but it is unsightly as well.
As an alternative, some subscribers choose to leave the transponder unit unanchored on the dashboard of the vehicle; however, the extra distance created between the unit's location on the dashboard (as compared to the intended installation on an upper driver-side front windshield) and the reader device at the toll collection system's dedicated travel lane may effectively cast the unit out of communicative range of the reader device, thereby rendering the unit inoperative. Furthermore, unless the transponder unit is removed from the dashboard before and after its immediate use, the unit tends to slide back and forth along the length of the dashboard while the vehicle is in operation or is thrust from the dashboard onto the seat or floor of the vehicle.
Regardless of whether the transponder unit is affixed to the vehicle windshield or is placed freestanding on the vehicle dashboard, the unit remains highly visible to passersby, thereby rendering it subject to theft. While the fastening material provided with the unit enables removal and portability of the transponder unit between vehicles, the same issues of safety, unsightliness, and unwanted visibility remain.
Conventional transponders are manufactured as disposable units with a limited lifespan that generally corresponds with the life of their internal batteries. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional transponder 100 includes various elements, such as a control module 106, an antenna 110, a memory device 104, and a battery 108 that are each communicatively coupled to one another via wiring. These elements are accommodated within a sealed housing 102, such that they are non-removable and non-replaceable by their subscribing end users. Thus, when the battery 108 of the unit loses power or the device otherwise breaks down, the end user must acquire a new transponder from an electronic toll collection service provider.